Homecoming for a Curly-headed Headliner 

by Paul Weideman 
The Santa Fe New Mexican
August 6, 2004

Liz Melendez sings the blues sometimes belting it out, sometimes with a delivery soft and husky and plays the electric guitar like she means it. "That fire and attack," she said when mentioning Johnny Winter, one of her influences, "that intensity is what I like to go for."
The Albuquerque native, now in Atlanta, has been soaking herself in the blues since she was a little kid learning rock 'n roll and blues standards on the guitar from her father, Dan Melendez.

She coaxes that "fire and attack" from her Fender Stratocaster, a gift from her dad right after she moved to Atlanta. Around the Southeast she"s often called "the female Stevie Ray Vaughan," and she considers the comparison to her main guitar hero an honor. In a recent interview she said her influences also include Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck, and her "favorite bands" list at http://www.lizmelendez.com adds nonblues acts like Ozzy Osbourne and Paul Simon.

"In the blues world, too much rock can be an unwelcome intrusion, but my band has been known to cut loose on some Sabbath, Zeppelin and Iron Maiden when the mood strikes," she says on her Web site. But the blues is her main squeeze.

She remembers, in her Web site bio, the time about 10 years ago that her dad taped an episode of the Austin City Limits television show that featured John Mayall and another guitar player named Coco Montoya. "Austin City Limits was a regular event in our house, and we watched it every Sunday afternoon on PBS, but this one was special, kinda like the first time I heard Freddie King"s "I Wonder Why" or Roy Buchanan"s version of "After Hours.""

Melendez was thrilled to finally meet Montoya, an alumnus of bands with Mayall and Albert Collins, at the 2004 NAMM, International Music Products Association, Summer Session in Nashville. She plans to attend the annual NAMM winter conference in Anaheim, Calif., where she will perform for Dean Markley Strings Inc. But for now she"s stoked to get back to her home state for the Madrid Blues Festival.

"I"m going early because I like spending extra time in New Mexico," she said in late July. "My entire family still lives in Albuquerque."

Melendez moved to Atlanta seven years ago because of opportunities in the music world and because it"s within a few hours" drive of the cities in which she often performs. She has headlined major festivals, including Riverbend Music Festival"s Bessie Smith Strut in Chattanooga (Koko Taylor is the only other female headliner in Riverbend history) and co-headlined the Cape Fear Blues Festival in Wilmington, N.C., and the Blues 2003 Festival in New York. She has shared stages with Bob Margolin, Francine Reed and Dave Maxwell.
On her first album, Mercy (self-produced in 2001), Melendez had a cast of eight, including contributors on Hammond organ, harmonica, clavinet, saxophone and percussion. She"ll play Madrid with a basic blues trio, with bass and drums accompanying her vocal and electric-guitar leads.

"I"ll be doing several songs from my CD and some from the next CD and some favorites I get asked to do, covers of songs by Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Allman Brothers, some good, guitar-driven blues " and maybe a little Coco Montoya," she said.

Melendez"s second album, now in preproduction in Atlanta, she said, will feature her own compositions, as does Mercy, but will be "more edgy and more high-energy than the first CD. I think it will show a lot of growth."

Songwriting, for this blueswoman, is all about being ready when the muse descends. "I get inspired at different times," she said. "I might write 15 songs in a week " some keepers and some not " and then not do another one for a long time. When the flow stops, you wait for the next one, keep your ears open for inspiration.

"Being in New Mexico is very inspirational. Almost all of the songs on the new CD I wrote in New Mexico. It"s a great place to write. I feel like there"s a really great energy there that opens up some things I can"t get to in the din of a big city like Atlanta. New Mexico is a very comforting place to be." She"s also bringing her camera with her to take pictures for the cover of the new CD.

Melendez gives kudos to the New Mexico Jazz Workshop for its years of presenting jazz events and the Madrid Blues Festival, now in its 28th year. "My parents took me to MBF most every year growing up, and I always wondered how cool it would be to play up on that old weathered-wood stage that during the 1920s was once the town baseball field.

"This year I will be headlining the Madrid Blues Festival at the close of the series. This is one of the most exciting bookings of my career simply because once upon a time I was a curly-headed kid covered in dust, climbing on the rocks around the festival site while the music echoed through the surrounding canyons. And now, at this year"s festival, kids will climb on rocks, and the music will echo."

The well-prepared bring a hat, sunscreen, plenty of water and a blanket or lawn chair to the Madrid Blues Festival. No glass containers are permitted on the grounds, but refreshments are available.

Comments
 
By h archuleta (Submitted: 08/09/2004 9:16 am) 

I went to the festival this year for the first time and was totally amazed at what Liz Melendez could do with her guitar. I wasn't the only person amazed, several men couldn't lift their jaw off the ground. I recommend to all, go see this young lady, you won't regret it. The sky is the limit and I encourage Ms. Melendez to continue in her path. She'll only get better.